23 killed in attack on Pakistan Shiites: police

A suicide attack on a Shiite Muslim procession in Pakistan's city of Rawalpindi overnight killed 23 people and wounded another 62, a police rescue spokeswoman told AFP.

The attack came as Pakistan welcomed Muslim leaders for a rare summit in Islamabad that brings together Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey and Pakistan in the Developing Eight.

The attack ripped through a downtown area of the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital, as Shiites were marching towards a mosque.

Deeba Shehnaz said the death toll rose from 16 after patients, who were critically wounded in the attack, died from their injuries in various hospitals.

"A total of 23 people have expired and 62 injured, eight of them are children," she said.

"The 23 apparently include the bomber because we have pieces of the body that have apparently not been identified," she added.